States Sue Over Social Services Data   08/04 06:38

   

   (AP) -- More than 20 states and the District of Columbia sued the Trump 
administration on Monday to block it from getting wide access to the personal 
information of millions of recipients of a benefits program for low-income 
families.

   The case is the latest legal action between states and the federal 
government over the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program, which like 
other public programs have come under scrutiny from the Trump administration as 
sources of potential fraud.

   The coalition of states sued in federal court in Washington to stop the 
agency that controls the program from moving ahead with a rule that would allow 
it to share recipients' immigration status, Social Security numbers and 
additional personal information with other parts of government or potentially 
with private entities, according to the lawsuit.

   "Instead of helping families struggling with the rising cost of living, this 
administration is trying to turn antipoverty programs against the people 
they're supposed to serve," New York Attorney General Letitia James said in a 
statement.

   Earlier this year, a judge prevented the Trump administration from 
withholding Temporary Assistance for Needy Families and other subsidy program 
funding from a handful of Democratic-controlled states, after the federal 
government said there was "reason to believe" the states were granting benefits 
to people in the country illegally. A federal government lawyer later said the 
move was largely in response to news reports about possible fraud.

   The Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program provides more than $16 
billion to states, D.C. and tribal governments in the form of grants that the 
local governments then have broad discretion to use to help low-income families 
through cash assistance, job training or other programs.

   Along with New York and the District of Columbia, joining the lawsuit are 
Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, 
Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, 
Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and Wisconsin. The 
governors of Kentucky and Pennsylvania have also signed onto the suit.

   The federal Administration for Children and Families declined to comment 
Monday.